My wife and I had a wonderful experience a few weeks ago when we had the opportunity to attend the regional conference of EO (Entrepreneurs Organization).  My older son co-chaired the event that was held in downtown Boston. The overall theme of the conference was how to build resilience. One of the headline speakers was the amazing Warren Rustand. He lectured to us on his strategies for building strong and resilient families.

The audience was packed with busy successful business owners. Rustand was preaching to the choir. His main message: when you are working so hard to build a thriving business, it is so easy to forget your main role in life, which is to be a great parent to your children. You are a parent every day, and it is a huge responsibility and your biggest obligation. But it is so tough to fulfill this role because your bandwidth is stretched and your plate is full.

I couldn’t help but think of how many of my clients fit this profile. Eight to ten years of college and postgraduate studies before you earn dollar one. Pressure to perform. Pressure to grow. Pressure to get ahead . Pressure to be the best. Pressure to keep up with the challenges of a busy practice. In that environment, how can you possibly focus and think about family and parental responsibilities? Here are two ideas for your consideration.

• Don’t prioritize your schedule – instead schedule your priorities. Block out the two hours required on a Tuesday morning at 10 AM to attend your daughter’s – or yes, your granddaughter’s – piano recital. You know about it, so just make sure you go. How about that high school football game at 4 PM on a Friday for your son or grandson? It is so important for you to be there to support and cheer him on. If you must, start earlier or work later or come in on your day off  to recover the lost production.

• If it is worth doing, just do it! These children and grandchildren grow up so quickly! You miss a lot in the blink of an eye. You have to somehow create the balance in your own life to be able to be truly present in theirs.

Schedule your priorities – don’t prioritize your schedule!

Please take the time to watch this wonderful three minute video by Prince Ea. It is so relevant and so well done. It says it all!!

I have been writing blog posts since 2010 advocating for the many advantages of case presentation using a tablet like an iPad. Loading photos onto the iPad is now seamless and almost instantaneous. And there are apps that you can download to a tablet that show beautifully designed drawings or graphics that illustrate dental problems and solutions to those problems. Sitting with your patient looking at photos on a computer screen compared to looking at photos on a tablet that can be manipulated – well it just isn’t even close! The level of intimacy and the clarity of the images is so far superior when you use a tablet.

The Microsoft Surface Book is an impressive tool that takes case presentation and treatment planning to a new level. It is a device which merges the power and performance of a laptop with the flexibility and mobility of a tablet. The screen detaches from the keyboard at the touch of a button and easily clicks back into place. The tablet (screen) is large at 13.5 inches and provides amazingly crystal-clear images and sharp color contrast. It obviously is a significantly larger screen for display to your patient then a conventional tablet. It also has a stylus that allows you to draw directly onto the tablet.

I see the principal use for this device to assist the treatment coordinator when he or she is making financial arrangements and closing the case after the doctor has presented treatment options. The coordinator can sit with the patient and refer to and review the treatment options using the tablet. Then with one click, the tablet can be re-attached to the keyboard and that laptop can support all of the practice management systems and can print out financial and insurance documentation.

Take a look and decide for yourself. It is a bit pricey – but used correctly it will be well worth the cost.